Good Day Readers! Obviously, I do not own anything connected to the Persona series in general or Persona 5 specifically, I DO own Chiba Natsumi and Anais Ouvrard, along with Natsumi's immediate family members and the original Personas that will be showing up on occasion.

So, this is a bit of an experiment for me, a reviewer asked if I could have the thoughts of other people be done in Third Person so I figured the best time would be every meeting after the first one between Natsumi and her Confidants. I have no clue if it works or not, but I have my fingers crossed.

I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy.

Chapter 43: - Moon, Tower, Sun

The first day after the fight against Azazel, I could still feel it weighing heavily on my body, but I needed to carry on as an ordinary student despite my exhaustion. So here I was at school, sat in my chair, I looked over at Ren and Ann, both of whom seemed tired as well and a quick glance at Morgana proved that the human turned cat was currently deep asleep.

"First I have an announcement for an upcoming school event," Kawakami-sensei revealed. I lifted my head at those words, confused as to what this event was, nothing had been planned around this time in the last year. "As part of a city beautification project, the entire school will be participating in a public cleanup campaign. That means we're going to Inokashira Park to pick up trash," Kawakami-sensei announced. People were not happy about that judging by the words that bounced about. "Settle down! The clean-up will take place next week, on the thirtieth. All students are to wear their gym uniforms during the event, so don't forget to dress the part," Kawakami-sensei stated. Right on cue my phone vibrated.

Ryūji: You guys hear about this cleanup bullshit at Inokashira Park?

Ryūji: I guess it's the principal's idea. Damage control after Kamoshida scandaled up the school's rep.

Ann: Pretty sure 'scandaled' is not a verb.

Natsumi: It definitely isn't.

Ann: But I get what you mean. Even the counselling stuff seems like a desperate move.

Ren: It's actually annoying how much they're scrambling.

Ryūji: All the girls in our class have been freaking out over this new guy, too.

Ryūji: I've been hearing Maruki's 'hot', 'kind', 'sensitive'… basically everyone thinks he's, their type.

Ann: Whoa. I guess he's pretty popular, then.

Ann: Oh yeah, did you guys go to his counselling yet?

Natsumi: I did.

Natsumi: It… helped.

Ren: I went.

Ryūji: Oh shit. I forgot.

Ryūji: But I dunno… I don't really feel like going.

Ren: We need to avoid suspicion. Not going after being told it's mandatory is suspicious.

Ren: Especially since the rest of us have.

Natsumi: But don't rush.

Natsumi: Really think it over.

Ryūji: Fiiine…

I set my phone away, I honestly didn't know what to make of this whole clean-up event, it was ridiculous to force us into doing this thing just because of Kamoshida's horrid actions and confession. But, cleaning up the park would at least make it nice for the other people to enjoy; I guess I just didn't want to be forced into it like that worthless principal was doing.

*Persona 5 Royal*

Mishima Yūki was practically vibrating with joy throughout the first portion of the school day. Another Calling Card had been posted! The Phantoms had struck again and at the famous artist Madarame this time! Honestly, Mishima had been shocked that such an old man had actually been a criminal, but the Phantoms were always right! Which meant that Chiba's assertion they weren't all powerful was wrong!

'Ack! Bad!' Mishima chastised himself. He hadn't intended to think something so horrible about the only person who was nice to him in middle school; even after her weird personality change, she had always been a very kind individual. He didn't understand why she didn't believe in the power of the Phantoms even though – as he looked over at the girl – she seemed rather close to Amamiya. 'Maybe I should talk to her again, try and bring her around.' Mishima decided. With that he got to his feet.

"Chiba-san," Mishima called out. The girl turned to look at him and Mishima saw the worried look Amamiya was shooting between the two of them, Takamaki was even giving them odd looks. "Could we talk about what we discussed the other day?" Mishima asked. A heavy cast came upon Chiba's face before she nodded her head in agreement, she gently waved at the other two and then moved away.

Mishima was quick to follow after the girl as she led them out into the courtyard where they actually had some privacy. Chiba sat down and looked at the boy, yet it still felt like she was towering over Mishima due to how intense her green eyes were piercing into him. It caused a lump to swell within his throat and he fought it down in order to start talking to Chiba.

"I was wondering if this recent event has caused you to change your opinion?" Mishima admitted. However, instead of bursting into gushing about how amazing the Phantoms were – which they were! – Chiba just remained silent and even seemed to be confused if the carefully measured blinking of her eyes was anything to go by. "On the Phantoms," Mishima clarified. An expression of understanding came onto her face as Mishima almost bounced slightly in place.

"Hardly. My feelings remain the same," Chiba easily answered. Mishima's bouncy energy scattered apart as he practically dropped his shoulders to the ground while his mouth opened in shock at the blatant refusal that had come out of the girl's mouth. "I assume you're referring to when I said that they couldn't solve every issue?" Chiba questioned.

"Yes! Why wouldn't them going after Madarame change your mind?!" Mishima exclaimed. It was impossible for him to wrap his head around why anyone from Shūjin would continue to deny them existing after the second calling card had been sent; especially when the one who was doing the denying had some kind of bond with the obvious leader of the Phantoms! It was madness in Mishima's eyes, a madness he could not understand, nor could he understand the calmness that continued to radiate from Chiba like she was someone kind of wise woman.

"Because it doesn't mean they can, or even should, solve every little problem people trip across in their daily lives," Chiba protested. That string of words actually made Mishima flinch back as if he had been physical struck, even though he was well aware that Chiba's hits would do more damage than what he felt, it was something quite unsettling. "Have you read through every post on the Phan-site? Really looked at their contents?" Chiba asked. That question drew Mishima back in ever so slightly.

"Well, no but that isn't my job. I just run the site," Mishima protested. Sure, he passed along some requests to Amamiya, but only if they really caught his eye; other than that, his job was a very simple one, manage the site so that it continued functioning properly and ensure the Phantoms were sufficiently promoted so that more people would come and share their requests to boost the Phantoms' fame and renown. He should probably consider looking into security options just in case anyone figured him out.

"I have read several of them," Chiba revealed. She pulled out her phone and quickly opened it up while he simply blinked at the girl in surprise that she did something so pointless, since she wasn't a Phantom after all. "'The girl I like won't even look my way. Can you change her heart to help me?', 'How about changing my dad's heart to give me more money.', 'I loaned my stuff out to a friend, but it hasn't been returned yet.', 'My boyfriend's constantly messing things up, I want him to act more like a gentleman.'. And I could go on, there are many of these kinds of posts. Do you really think the Phantoms should take these requests?" Chiba asked.

Okay, now that Mishima had been forced to listen to some of them and he knew Chiba wasn't a liar, it actually made him really uncomfortable to hear some of those things were what was being posted on his site. It was meant to help people talk about evil adults or other horrible individuals and let the Phantoms know who was in need of a change of heart. Those issues Chiba had read out, they just sounded so petty and selfish, some even seemed manipulative.

"Well, not some of them… they don't really sound like societal issues just… stuff," Mishima admitted. He was a little hesitant now, he hoped that the Phantoms hadn't been duped into going after some of those victims, Mishima didn't know whether Chiba had picked the worst ones or just whichever she came across, either way it was pretty horrific. "But what am I supposed to do?" Mishima wondered. It seemed wrong to silence any voices, if Mishima did that then people might stop trying to share their voice and then innocent people would suffer because the Phantoms didn't know who to help.

"You're the administrator, it's up to you how you aid the people using your site," Chiba stated. The bell sharply rang, indicating that their food break was over – shoot! Neither of them had eaten – Chiba swiftly stood up and walked up to Mishima before taking his hand which caused him to jump. "I've said this before, you're a kind person Mishima. You've been in a terrible situation, why don't you try to use your own understanding of suffering to reach out to those who are suffering themselves?" Chiba suggested. Her hand was surprisingly rugged for such a delicate looking girl, yet the callouses seemed to make her gentle grip feel even more real than if it had been smooth as Mishima expected it to be.

With those words passed along, Chiba proceeded to turn and walk away from Mishima who allowed his eyes to trail after her as she head back inside the building. Mishima looked down at his hand and his eyes widened when he saw that resting in his palm was a mint green bento box, Mishima could only blink in surprise at the object's presence in his hand especially since it was clear who it had to belong to.

"And she says I'm kind," Mishima commented. A small smile came on his face, Mishima made his way back to class while sneaking only a few bites of the perfectly ordinary meal, yet it tasted so warm to him and his hand seemed to almost tingle with warmth as he remembered the way Chiba's hand had felt as it gripped his.

*Persona 5 Royal*

Suzui Shiho was utterly bored, not that there was much to do when she was still confined to a hospital bed most days. At least the physiotherapy was working, since her legs were getting better enough to take a few small steps without her legs immediately shaking so badly. Shiho knew she owed it all to the people who helped her, the physio, her parents and most of all Ann and Natsumi.

Ever since the first day, when Natsumi had encouraged her to not give and let that man win, Shiho had held those words close to her heart, it had been the biggest motivator to get her legs back in working order. She just really wanted to walk again, volleyball wasn't something Shiho even considered anymore, there was too much pain and darkness attached to the sport now for her to ever consider going back to it. But she would walk!

"Shiho!" Ann's cheerful voice came. Shiho twisted in her bed and grinned upon seeing her best friend, only for her grin to practically split her cheeks when Natsumi's green eyes and dark hair poked out from behind Ann. "Surprise combo visit!" Ann cheered. Natsumi laughed at the blonde's joyfulness, it certainly made Shiho smile to see her best friend smiling so much more; there were times when Shiho wished she hadn't jumped, despite the dark voice that had screamed at her it would be better, all so that Ann wouldn't had to have seen it. But a part of Shiho knew that her attempt had led to that man's punishment, Shiho had no idea how but a part of her knew it was true.

"What's on the agenda for today?" Natsumi asked. Shiho wondered how Natsumi had become so calm and gentle, but often waved it away, that wasn't important after all; what was important was that Ann had another friend at last, someone she could rely on while Shiho was cooped up in the hospital and eventually when she moved away from Tokyo to restart her life properly.

"I'll be going into the hydro-pool today," Shiho answered. It had been a new suggestion from the therapist after the bar exercise had proven a little too strenuous for her, yet Shiho had been too stubborn to stop moving, the hydro pool was meant to be gentler on her legs. Natsumi and Ann proceeded to share similar looks before looking back at Shiho.

"Oh, will we still be able to join you?" Ann wondered. She sounded rather concerned, but then the two of them had been to as many sessions as possible, just like her parents had, so they were obviously concerned about being so suddenly cut out and thus depriving Shiho of the encouragement that had almost been like sustenance to Shiho's recovery progress. Luckily for them, Shiho had already anticipated this question.

"Yes, so long as you stay well away from the pool," Shiho admitted. She'd asked when she'd first heard that would be happening, after all Ann and Natsumi's encouragement helped her to do her best; Ann grinned and pumped her fist into the air while Natsumi smiled and moved over to start helping Shiho get herself sorted to leave the bed.

When the physio arrived, it was an easy move into the wheelchair which Shiho could now do on her own much to her glee. The trio of girls chattered along the way, mainly about books and music though whenever music came up, Shiho noticed Natsumi would touch her throat briefly with a strange expression on her face that would have encouraged Shiho to speak up were they not in the company of the physio who Natsumi might not be so keen to talk around when it was about something that was clearly very personal.

The four reached the hydro pool and Shiho was taken to get change into a swimsuit, then brought out to the pool, thankfully it was empty. Except for Ann and Natsumi who were huddled in a corner together, they seemed to be discussing something important – probably the exams, Ann likely did horrible as per usual in all subjects but English – but broke off when they came in. The wheelchair was secured and Shiho hobbled to the edge with aid from the physio and slipped into the water.

Being in the pool was quite relaxing, enough that Shiho let out a sigh of relief and just barely stopped herself from moving onto her back so that she could just float there and enjoy the temperate water that surrounded her and seemed to relax all the muscles in her body. Soon after though, the physio joined her and they got to working on the routine that the physio had designed for her.

The water flowed around her in a gentle manner, helping to relax her body even more as she looked down and focused on moving her legs forward, her hands gently held by the physio to keep her upright. As she moved forward, Shiho didn't stop smiling as she heard the joyful encouragement of Ann and the gentle reassurance of Natsumi bolstering her to keep going until a weight of exhaustion washed over her, but it only left a satisfied feeling in its' wake.

With some effort, Shiho got out of the water and back into the changing room, once sufficiently dry and back in the clothes bought from home, Shiho was pushed out to join the others two. Ann congratulated Shiho on how she had done that day which Shiho answered with a tired smile, meanwhile Natsumi held one of her hands and gently rubbed a thumb over Shiho's knuckles as she easily kept pace with the motions of the wheelchair.

Once back in the room and in her bed, the physio proceeded to leave the room thus allowing the girls to talk about whatever they wished. Although Ann was searching through her bag while muttering something under her breath something Shiho didn't quite catch and a quick glance of her eyes at Natsumi proved that she was as baffled by Ann's unusual action. Shiho turned back to watch her friend's frantic search before she huffed out a sigh and pulled the zip of her bad shut.

"Sorry Shiho. I was going to bring you something, but it looks like I've forgotten it," Ann apologised. Shiho burst out laughing, because it was so typical of Ann to forget something like that, Shiho would have loved to have learned what Ann was intending to bring her but the ability to laugh and see Ann acting more like the girl whose terrible paintings they'd bonded over were much more precious treasures to Shiho than something that she could get at any time.

"It's fine Ann, just bring it the next time," Shiho reassured. Ann smiled brightly at her, but it was at that moment that Shiho realised just how dark things had become; Ann darted over and tightly hugged Shiho, wishing more encouragement to Shiho before reluctantly drawing back and leaving the room, Shiho turned to look at Natsumi who had remained and instead sat herself in her chair with a wary look in her eyes.

"How are you doing mentally?" Natsumi asked. Of course, Natsumi would ask such a probing question, Shiho had always known the girl to be highly observant since she'd seen her dodge volleyballs and other things with shocking ease, even when her back was turned. Besides, Natsumi was aware that Shiho still had flashbacks to that terrible moment, the muscles in Shiho's arms reflexively tightened as she looked down at her legs which started to tremble ever so slightly.

"So-so. I don't let the others know, but there are times when I can still feel him, it's weaker now but still there," Shiho admitted. The physiotherapy was helping her to get better at suppressing her memory of that event, Shiho was able to focus on the better things in her life right now; but then the night came and with it the memory leeched back in and inject Shiho's mind with dark thoughts once again. Natsumi's lips pulled into a frown at Shiho's words.

"There's a councillor at Shūjin, he was brought in after… well I'm sure you can guess," Natsumi revealed. Shiho's lips thinned at the hint of her s-s-suicide, it still hurt to think of it with phantom pains surging across her back as if recalling the moment of impact, Natsumi seemed uncomfortable even bringing it up. "He's a bit of an oddball but he's really good at his job, you could try talking to him," Natsumi suggested. Shiho felt a little spark run across her nerves, as if she wanted to shift and twitch in place, especially her legs, so settled for gently tapping a rhythm with her finger.

"I… don't know. I don't want to tell some stranger, even one who's an expert at this sort of thing, about what happened to me. I'd rather just talk to someone who already knew about it all," Shiho admitted. Shiho did not feel comfortable at all, even if Natsumi was vouching for him, she didn't want someone's false pity and empty kindness; Shiho wanted something that was more real… something like what the girl in front of her had already shown Shiho. "Would you be willing to listen to me?" Shiho asked.

"Of course, Shiho, that's what friends do," Natsumi agreed. The ease with which Natsumi answered calmed Shiho's heart and allowed the wounded girl to smile in relief knowing that with Natsumi being here to listen to her, Shiho might be able to finally expel some of the darkness that seemed to be festering within her heart. If she could expel that darkness then maybe the cold voice that haunted her would finally leave her mind for good, allowing Shiho to actually start rebuilding her life.

*Persona 5 Royal*

Kujikawa Rise pulled the headphones off and shook her head, causing her hair to splay about her face. Her new song was going to come out soon and she had to make sure it was completely finished which was not helped by her slightly distracted state that came from personal issues. A thumbs up came from the recorder which meant she was free to go, thank goodness because she could do with resting her voice. Stepping out the room, she moved over to the drinks specially made to help their voices, no matter how vile they tasted.

"Heya Rise-senpai, good session?" A voice called. Rise looked over to see her friendly rival Kanami, Rise nodded her head to show the answer to the question. Kanami looked at the rest of her group and waved her hand to dismiss them before turning back, cutting her brown eyes about in worry before moving closer so that her massively curly hair could obscure them. "Have you found him yet senpai?" Kanami asked. She was the only one Rise had confessed to about her personal issues, but only because Rise trusted her above everyone in this side of her life.

"No, not yet, but I've got a reason to keep going back to Yongen," Rise admitted. This caused Kanami's eyes to widen slightly as Rise smiled slightly upon thinking of the girl with such a pretty voice, but it was a sad sort of smile. "There's a girl there with a voice that sounds like she's been trained, but she doesn't like people knowing. I'm worried it's something like what I went through five years ago, even though I've never seen or heard of her before," Rise confessed.

"If it's like your situation Rise-senpai, I can understand why you're going to keep seeing her. I wish you luck," Kanami admitted. Rise smiled at her friend, who pulled back and bounded away with her energy, Dropkick and Sapphire were coming out back-to-back so both of them were pretty overworked as of late. Rise could only be glad her release was a single instead of an album, poor Kanami and her Kitchen.

With the recording done for the day, Rise grabbed her bag and darted out of the building with a pair of shades shoved over her face. Surprisingly a pair of sunglasses was more effective of a disguise than Rise had expected them to be, sometimes she wished she still had the glasses Teddie had given her to see if anyone would recognise her with them on. A giggle escaped her at the thought of her crazy friend.

'But to think I'd run into another Betwixt.' Rise thought. She'd never expected it, but honestly, knowing she had met someone with those other world seeing eyes, it actually opened up a pit within her stomach at the thought that something as dangerous as what she faced could be threatening Tokyo. It wasn't helped by those weird breakdown incidents that kept happening. 'I wish I could use Kouzeon in this world, I might be able to get some kind of answer as to what's going on.' Rise believed.

She arrived in Yongen and quickly made her way to the place she had run into Natsumi. Rise was a little concerned that she probably turning into a stalker by waiting here for the girl, but it was the only location she knew the girl would come apart from the coffee shop that Rise had visited thanks to Natsumi. The sound of footsteps came and Rise turned to look, smiling slightly when she saw the girl she'd come to visit stopping short at her appearance.

"If you're going to visit me Rise-san, I'd appreciate a little bit of warning before hand," Natsumi insisted. Rise had honestly been surprised by how different the girl was to Izumi, so poised and almost delicate looking with such a quiet voice compared to the almost menacing – upon first meeting that is – and bold Betwixt she had met before. Though their eyes, despite the different colours, were very similar in the intensity.

"Okay Natsu-kun, next time," Rise promised. Natsumi's lips made the slightest of twitch as if she was moving towards smiling at the idol's words, but it suddenly stopped as she returned to scrutinising the elder, thank goodness Rise was used to people with probing eyes otherwise she'd be fidgeting quite intensely. "I see you're calling me Rise instead of Risette," Rise acknowledged. It was a little odd, but Rise didn't mind the sudden change.

"I… um, well, it just… I didn't know which you'd prefer," Natsumi admitted. The younger girl shifted her stance slightly and twisted her head to the side which caused Rise to frown, Rise wasn't entirely sure whether the girl was – for lack of a better phrase – comfortable in her own skin or not, she had seemed so before when they first met; but after the voice incident and right now, Rise wasn't too sure.

"Which ever you prefer is fine by me Natsu-kun," Rise decided. Better to let the girl decide, hopefully she could relax and open up to Rise about her aversion to her voice. "Listen, about what you mentioned last time, I'm not gonna tell anyone!" Rise began to speak. But she immediately saw the shifting of Natsumi's left leg and her tensing muscles, the girl could be quite combative whenever her voice was concerned. "I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about it, my voice caused me suffering to," Rise admitted.

"You mean when you went on hiatus five years ago?" Natsumi asked. Rise nodded, she could never have imagined what had happened just by making a choice to run away; so many friends gained who saw the real her, a way to express herself that set her free in a way she hadn't expected, acceptance of her idol persona.

"I'll tell you about it, if you want," Rise offered. Going first, speaking the truth of that event, it might just be what Natsumi needed to open up and tell Rise her story; Rise really wanted to help the younger girl embrace her voice, herself, properly and maybe that would enable her to finally be free about it to others in her life.

"My home is a short distance away, we can sit down there and talk," Natsumi offered. The girl glided forward with an almost ethereal movement, Rise quickly followed after her while thinking that Natsumi almost seemed to have been made to be an idol with her trained voice and graceful movements. The doorway opened and Rise moved into a house that immediately chilled her to the bone.

It wasn't that the house was cold, it was a perfectly normal temperature for the season, but to Rise's honed navigator's senses, it felt as if there wasn't anything alive in here. The house had a very empty feeling to it, yet Natsumi didn't seem even a little bothered by the cold atmosphere, frankly that fact was more than a little unnerving to Rise; she said nothing of this so instead follow Natsumi into a decently sized kitchen.

"Tea? Or something else?" Natsumi offered. Rise accepted the tea and sat down at the table, trying desperately not to fidget in response to the chilled energy that blanketed the building; there wasn't much in the way of decorations either, simply books with a wide variety of fiction and Rise was certain she spotted both of Izumi's books on the self at perfect reaching height for Natsumi.

"Five years ago," Rise spoke up. Natsumi proceeded to set the tea down and sat right in front of Rise so that the two could look at each other. "I quit because I ended up losing sight of myself," Rise admitted. Natsumi seemed confused by the expression that Rise saw upon her face. "The person everyone saw on the stage, Risette, she wasn't the real me or that was how I perceived her at the time. I was so angry at not being able to be my real self and not knowing if everyone admired me, or the identity I took on stage," Rise admitted. The memory of those feelings was still strong, but she used it as a reminder to always be true to herself.

"Really?" Natsumi asked. Rise wondered what the girl could possibly be thinking after hearing Rise's confession. "I always figured the Risette who appeared wasn't the way you acted in private. But I never considered her to be a fake. Everyone's got different facets to themselves and we can't always show every facet of ourselves to every person in our lives," Natsumi admitted. Now that surprised Rise, but the words made sense given who she had to be.

"Spoken like someone who's faced her own Shadow," Rise acknowledged. However, despite the fact that this must have been how Natsumi awakened her Persona, there was a rather baffled look upon her face; almost as if she didn't understand a word that Rise had spoken. That obviously confused Rise and the two stared at each other in silence for some time.

"I… never faced my Shadow, I've tamed it but that's not how I got my Persona," Natsumi admitted. Rise's mouth opened in surprise at that statement, unable to control the shock that flooded through her in response to the words; her mind was running about a hundred miles a minute as she tried to process the words that had just been spoken, while also trying to come up with a proper response.

"Could you tell me more?" Rise asked. She hadn't expected that admission, she'd never learned how another team of Persona Users had awakened theirs, which made her wonder if it was really different for each team. Natsumi seemed to be thinking about something before shrugging her shoulders as if deciding something.

"Sure, I guess since you already know, it's safe. So long as you tell me what that giant Persona of yours can do," Natsumi insisted.